Advertisement

Landsdómur Trial a Political Charade

News

Landsdómur Trial a Political Charade

March 15, 2012 13:50Updated: January 30, 2014 20:24

Hulda Þórisdóttir is a political scientist and a professor at the University of Iceland, and is among those who believe the trial will not succeed in its pursue of justice. So far the term economic crisis has not once been mentioned, she told Rúv.is.

The proceedings continue following ten days of witness procedures. Many had anticipated the proceedings would reveal further truths about the economic collapse in 2008.

Former PM Geir H.Haarde. Photo by Icelandic Photo Agency.

Hildur fears that regardless of some new information revealed in the testimonies of witnesses called to testify, the trial will disappoint more than safisfying the curiosity of the nation.

“The main purpose of the trial is to find the guilty party and the second purpose to achieve a sense of justice through the proceedings with the quest for the truth. I am terribly concerned the trial will not be successful.”

Hildur states that several reasons stand in the way of success, among those being the political nature of the trial and the difficulty in estimating the events following the collapse.

“In hindsight, it’s easy to be wise. Four years later, it’s obvious to people what happened following the collapse, but the sequence of events was not so clear as the events unfolded. Secondly, it matters how we justify our own actions, and it goes without saying that not a single person who has testified before the court has acknowledged his or her part in the collapse.”

The third point to keep in mind according to Hildur, are the complex and convoluted reasons behind the collapse.

“The sequence of events leading up to the collapse was filtered with particular events and concurrent components within the banking system, administration and exterior influences. No one component can be blamed entirely for the crash of 2008,“ she remarked. It is understandable that people want answers and a reason for what has happened,” she told Rúv.is.

“Unfortunately, it is not likely a single source can be blamed for the concurrent sequence of events, and the trial reflects that, I am afraid,” she said in conclusion.